PHOENIX — Pinnacle High School tight end Duce Robinson is getting looks from some of the top college football programs in the country like USC, Texas, Georgia, Alabama and Oregon.
Robinson is hard to miss at 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds but the Phoenix native and five-star prospect will have a lot of eyes on him during his senior season with the Pioneers.
"He deserves all the attention because he checks all the boxes: great student, great citizen, high character, great teammate, great leader… He's a slam dunk for any school," Pinnacle head coach Dana Zupke said.
12News featured Robinson in 2019 when he was an incoming freshman at Pinnacle receiving a football scholarship from Arizona State before ever playing a down of tackle football.
Even though he’s coming into his final year of prep football as one of the top recruits in the country, he’s doing his best not to acknowledge any pressure that comes with that.
"You know, I feel like it's always there but to be honest I really try to block everything out and just focus on what you can do to help the team out," Robinson said.
Pinnacle’s longtime head coach Dana Zupke has seen plenty of talent come through his program throughout his 20 years at the helm and he always believed Robinson had incredible potential.
"People forget that this is only his fourth year ever playing tackle football and he missed half his freshman year with an injury,” Zupke said. “His playing age is pretty young relative to something like baseball which he's been playing a lot longer."
Robinson is also a talented basketball player, but his desire to play baseball at the next level will likely influence his highly anticipated college commitment. Both of his parents were Division I athletes and his father played both football and baseball at Florida State.
"I want to play both as long as I can, so it'll definitely be a part of my college decision," Robinson said. “I'm going to wait until the end of the season. I'm going to take a couple official visits to some games this season. I'm not really in a rush to make my decision or anything."
Robinson, who was named a team captain, is focused on helping the Pioneers improve on a 4-8 campaign last season. Pinnacle will face some of the top teams in Arizona including the defending state champions in 6A and the Open Division: the Highland Hawks and the Saguaro Sabercats.
The players in Pinnacle’s locker room will tell you they have a special team coming into this season with Robinson ready to shine in the spotlight.
“He’s really starting to develop the confidence to go along with just the exceptional athletic ability he has,” Zupke said. “His strength of character was already off the charts and he's really learning how to put it all together."
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